sugar. It was cluttered with boxes, bags, and racks of brightly colored clothes. It honestly looked like a costume store. The few items I could see clearly looked like they belonged in The Great Gatsby or on Saturday Night Fever. It was all unique for sure.
It took me a minute to find the back room with the bed in it. By the time I did, Ollie’s eyes were open, and she seemed to be coming around. She demanded I put her down, but I was worried she would collapse again, so I tossed her on the narrow twin bed instead. She bounced a bit and swore as she lifted a hand to touch her dripping hair. Her face went from scarily pale to bright pink with embarrassment in a matter of seconds.
“We’re drenched.” She pushed a soggy curl out of her face and wrinkled her nose. “Let me find some towels and see if Mercer has anything laying around you can change into. She has a washer and dryer set up in the bathroom. I can throw our clothes in to dry while we wait out the storm.”
As she muttered the words, a loud crack of thunder drowned the last couple of syllables. Ollie shrieked and put her hands over her ears. She started rocking back and forth on the edge of the bed, repeating over and over again, “It’ll be okay. Everything is fine. It’s just thunder. It can’t hurt you.” She sounded like a little kid. It was easy for me to forget how young she really was because I knew how unconventional her childhood had been.
Like me, she’d lived enough life in such a short amount of time; it made us seem older and more jaded than others our same age.
When she told the old man how everything went down with Sawyer, I had to physically hold onto something so I didn’t put a fist through a wall. The way he’d treated her and the way all the adults around her had acquiesced while I’d been around had been bad enough. The rage that filled me when I heard how my half brother practically turned her into his own personal plaything once I was gone was hot enough to burn through all the resentment and disappointment I still carried toward her. I wanted to punish her for picking him over me all those years ago. As it turned out, she’d ended up punishing herself far more than I or anyone else would ever be able to.
I never liked or trusted Sawyer.
I hated him after the accident.
Now…I wanted to kill him, and I had no trouble at all finding forgiveness for her.
I should’ve tried to find answers before now, but I’d been blinded by my own sense of abandonment. That wasn’t a feeling you got over quickly.
I wanted to make him pay for every single dirty, twisted thing he’d put Ollie through. I wanted to expose him as the monster he really was, and I wanted to make sure he never got close enough to hurt the forever scared girl who was falling apart in front of my eyes.
I was more certain than ever that he was the one responsible for the accident that night. The only way he could finally have complete control over Ollie was to make her completely indebted to him. I doubted he planned on injuring himself to the extent he had, but I was sure he knew she would feel responsible for the accident and stay by his side out of guilt. And there was a solid chance his messed-up mind believed I might die that night and be out of Ollie’s life forever. To Sawyer, the risk would have been worth it.
Sighing, I walked over to stand in front of Ollie. I put a hand on the top of her head, her wet hair immediately clung to my fingers. The curls were cool to the touch but still soft and springy.
“It’s just a storm. No matter how bad it is, it will pass.” It was true. Even if they were destructive and ruined everything of value, the worst weather eventually died down and made way for sunnier days. “Come on, let’s get you dried off.”
I didn’t think my heart could handle her fainting on me again. Back at the old man’s place, my heart jumped right into my throat the minute she dashed for the front door. I knew I could catch her and that she wouldn’t get far, but there was